She passed many years ago. It was shortly after I got married, and I needed an ironing board. So when the grandchildren were given an opportunity to select items they would like from her house—one of the things I chose was the ironing board.

I’ve used the ironing board for more than 35 years. It’s probably 60 or 70 years old (and probably could easily last another 60 or 70 years). I replaced the ironing board cover once a few years ago—but that’s it. It might be heavy, but it is also darn sturdy.

I have an old heavy one too. I like it because I do a lot of sewing. and pressing. I have put those old rubber tips that you could buy for crutches on the bottom of the legs about 40 years ago. to keep it from scratching the floor. I bought it used at a white elephant sale. I have no idea how old it is. I bought a new one once because I wanted a lighter one. I kept this one in a closet. The one I bought new kept shaking and was hard to work on cutting quilting block and other odd stuff you do with a ironing board when quilting so I got rid of it and went back to the old one. It don’t shake or rock. They sure didn’t spare the metal in those days. It weighs a ton.

You have the ironing board, and I have the iron. This is a different model than Mom had, but it looks just the same. It’s from the 1930s, and talk about heavy! It’s about ten pounds. I can’t imagine doing a whole pile of ironing with the thing.

What a lovely, really intimate, thing to have — grandma’s ironing board. It may be heavy, but oh how sturdy. You don’t have to worry about the iron falling off as you switch the position of what you are ironing.

In my grandmother’s house, as in my parent’s house for most of the houses we lived in, and in the older homes my husband and I subsequently rented or owned, the ironing board was built in, usually in the kitchen (so as to be handy to the sink for water for steaming?), sometimes in the laundry room, if the house were big enough to have such a luxury. It is such a lovely convenience, but as permanent press gained traction, built-in ironing boards have lost their appeal. I miss it every Thanksgiving and Christmas when I get out the ancestral linens (especially since the new light-weight boards shift around a lot under the weight of all that cloth.) Lucky you!